Idaho AG: Wells Fargo to Pay $575 Million in Settlement

(KLIX) – Idaho will get more than $5 million from a settlement with Wells Fargo that includes all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Wells Fargo Bank must pay $575 million to resolve claims that the company violated state consumer protection laws, according to Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden.

Idaho’s portion of the settlement is $5.27 million, Wasden said in a news release on Friday. The money will be deposited into the state’s Consumer Protection Fund.

“Wells Fargo set aggressive and unrealistic sales goals for its employees and incentivized them to inflate their results,” Wasden said. “By doing so, the company created an impetus for its workers to play fast and loose with the rules.”

According to the news release, the states claim that Wells Fargo employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts and enrolled customers into online banking services without their knowledge or consent, among a host of other misdeeds, including having improperly referred customers for enrollment in third-party renters and life insurance policies, improperly charged auto loan customers for force-placed and unnecessary collateral protection insurance, failed to ensure that customers received refunds of unearned premiums on certain optional auto finance products, and incorrectly charged customers for mortgage rate lock extension fees.

Wasden said the company’s “dishonest behavior harmed consumers” and that the “settlement, along with prior federal agency orders, seeks to hold the company accountable for its actions.”